The Brief

This month, a two-part documentary on the history of Black television, Seen & Heard was released on HBO Max.

It comes at a tense moment for the genre.

In April, CBS sparked backlash after canceling three Black-led shows in one day: spinoffs of The Equalizer starring Queen Latifah and The Neighborhood featuring Cedric the Entertainer, along with Damon Wayans Sr. and Jr.’s comedy Poppa’s House.

Sharon Waxman, who is the founder and editor of the entertainment news site The Wrap, summarized the moment we're in for the New York Times last month. Its title: “Hollywood is ‘Hot, Horny and White’ Again.”

Her take: “The entertainment industry is nothing if not finely attuned to the social and cultural signals that affect the box office. ... The pendulum that swung all the way left after the killing of George Floyd in 2020, with among other things the installation of DEI leaders at the studios, started to go the other way in 2023.”

Giselle Bailey, a documentary filmmaker and director, had a front row seat to that swing while making Seen & Heard. Even as she was putting the documentary together, shows like Rap Sh!t, a comedy series following two women MCs, and Random Acts of Flyness, a surrealist sketch comedy show led by Terence Nance, got the ax.

How did we get here?

“I  think we're in another moment …” Bailey said, pausing while she searched for a tactful way to put it. “I'm going to say ‘of rebirth.'”

“I think it is very hard right now. Opportunities are rather limited,” she said. “And also, I see from studying this history that this is another time of ingenuity. And I feel that with my peers — other Black filmmakers — are really thinking about, ‘How do I wanna tell this story? Where can I distribute it? How do I do it myself? How do we partner? How do we collaborate?'”

Giselle Bailey and Issa Rae speak onstage following the "Seen & Heard" premiere during the 2025 SXSW Conference in Austin, Texas this March.

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Seen & Heard, produced by Issa Rae, asks those questions in interviews with icons who have shaped the television landscape, including Oprah, Tyler Perry, Shonda Rimes, Debbie Allen, Rae herself and and many more.

The backstory 

The first episode of Seen & Heard highlights the history of Black entertainment as early as the Chitlin circuit of the 1930s, an informal network of venues where Black musicians, comedians and other entertainers performed for Black audiences during Jim Crow era segregation.

These venues were mostly in the eastern, southern and upper Midwest U.S., but the story of Black television takes place here in L.A., in the world of board rooms and sound stages from the '50s to today.

“LA is the central hub, the womb, the battleground of the story that we're telling,” Bailey said.

Bailey noticed there was a cycle to Black TV There would be pockets of time when Black shows were popular, like in the '70s, when the prolific producer and writer Norman Lear created and championed sitcoms like Sanford and Son, Good Times and The Jeffersons — and then those pockets would close.

How the Black TV Renaissance of the '90s and 2000s waned

UPN's ``Girlfriends" featured, from left, Jill Jones, Persia White, Tracee Ellis Ross, and Golden Brooks.

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To understand this cycle,  Seen & Heard explores what happened in the '90s and early 2000s, when there was a huge renaissance of Black shows on TV.

“In the 90s, 'UPN (United Paramount Network) and WB (Warner Brothers) had many of the Black shows that come to define the era,” Bailey said.

Shows like Girlfriends, Moesha and Sister Sister, which amassed large audiences and helped their respective networks establish their voice and loyal viewership. But then…

“At a certain point in early 2000s, UPN and the WB merged and created the CW. During that acquisition, they started moving to what often is called a ‘mainstream appeal,’” Bailey said. “And so that leaves a lot of things behind, including things that are considered a creative risk — that tends to be voices of people of color.”

Throughout the aughts, CW became known for shows like Gossip Girl rather than Moesha. In Seen & Heard, Ralph Farquhar, co-creator of Moesha said, "Our shows have systematically been used to pump networks since we've been on TV. To pump up the ratings, to pump up the network. And then when they get what they need, they let it go.”

Farquhar also called out Fox — another network — that started running In Living Color, a comedy sketch show starring Keenan Ivory Wayans, in 1990, “until, one day when they bought NFL football and they decided to get rid of everybody. Football meant white males to them. They cancelled everything Black 'cause they considered the Black audience a downscale demographic."

“It is a bit of whiplash,” Bailey said. “Because the most popular shows went from being very Black to being very not in a span of just a couple of years.”

What to do with a fickle Hollywood system? 

Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry attend the "Sidney" Premiere during the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival in 2022. Both are highly influential in the entertainment industry.

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Bailey noticed a theme emerge in her interviews for the documentary: Black creatives feeling it was necessary to navigate or bypass the studio system.

“There's controlling how something's getting made, which community is making it, how is that reflected on the screen? […] All of those things are really rooted in having real control of the thing. And the best way to do that is to own the content,” Bailey said.

Tyler Perry's studio — which he takes viewers on a tour of in Seen and Heard has multiple sound stages named after legendary Black performers like Denzel Washington, Whoopi Goldberg and Sidney Poitier. Oprah also talks in the documentary about the importance of owning her own network: OWN, the Oprah Winfrey network.

A push to create or contribute to a system that is not bankrolled by white executives, extends beyond billionaire industry tycoons. After Terence Nance’s Random Acts of Flyness was canceled, Nance came together with other Black creatives in Baltimore to open Lalibela, a space with sound stages and equipment where Black creators can make their own productions without waiting for a studio green light.

“Terence’s Lalibela is really exciting to me,” Bailey said. “Those are the kinds of projects that I believe [are] going to create another kind of renaissance.”

Watch the full interview below.

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

Since 1977, Richard Santillan has been to every Opening Day game at Dodger Stadium. 

“The tradition goes from my father, to me, to my children and grandchildren. Some of my best memories are with my father and children here at Dodger Stadium,” Santillan told The LA Local, smiling under the shade of palm trees near the entrance to the ballpark Wednesday morning. He was there to protest the team less than 24 hours before Opening Day.

Santillan, like countless other loyal Dodgers fans, is grappling with his fan identity over the team’s decision to accept an invitation to the White House and owner Mark Walter’s ties to ICE detention facilities.

More than 30 people joined Santillan on Wednesday morning for a press conference held near 1000 Vin Scully Drive to convey a message directly to the team. 

“We are demanding the Dodgers stop participating in funding of inhumane treatment of families and do not go to the White House to celebrate with the criminal in chief,” Evelyn Escatiola told the crowd. “Together, we have the power to make a change.”

Escatiola, a former dean of East Los Angeles College and longtime community organizer, urged fans to flex their economic power by “letting the Dodgers know that we do not support repression.”

Jorge “Coqui” Rodriguez, a lifelong Dodgers fan, spoke to the crowd and called on Dodgers ownership to divest from immigration detention centers owned and operated by GEO Group and CoreCivic.

Jorge Coqui H Rodriguez speaks at a press conference outside Dodger Stadium on March 25, 2026, to demand the Dodgers not to visit the White House following their 2025 World Series win.

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In a phone interview a day before the protest, Rodriguez told The LA Local he did not want the Dodgers using his “cheve” or beer money to fund detention centers. 

“They can’t take our parking money, our cacahuate money, our cheve money, our Dodger Dog money and invest those funds into corporations that are imprisoning people. It’s wrong,” Rodriguez said. 

Rodriguez considers the Dodgers one of the most racially diverse teams and said the players need to support fans at a time when heightened immigration enforcement has become more common across L.A.

The team’s 2025’s visit to the White House drew ire from the largely Latino fan base, citing the Trump administration’s ongoing attacks on immigrants. 

In June, the team came under further scrutiny when rumors swirled online that federal immigration agents were using the stadium’s parking, which immigration authorities later denied in statements posted on social media accounts.

The team again came under fire after not releasing a statement on the impacts of ICE raids on its mostly Latino fan base at the height of immigration enforcement last summer. The team later agreed to invest $1 million to support families affected by immigration enforcement.

When he learned the Dodgers were pledging only $1 million to families in need, Rodriguez called the amount a  “slap in the face.” 

“These guys just bought the Lakers for billions of dollars and they give a million dollars to fight for legal services? That’s a joke,” Rodriguez said. “They need to have a moral backbone and not be investing in those companies.”

According to reporting from the Los Angeles Times, former Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershawsaid last week that he is looking forward to the trip.

“I went when President [Joe] Biden was in office. I’m going to go when President [Donald] Trump is in office,” Kershaw said. “To me, it’s just about getting to go to the White House. You don’t get that opportunity every day, so I’m excited to go.”

The Dodgers have yet to announce when their planned visit will take place. 

Santillan sometimes laments his decision to give up his season tickets in protest of the team. His connection to the stadium and the memories he has made there with family and friends will last a lifetime, he said. On Thursday, he will uphold his tradition and be there for the first pitch of the season, but with a heavy heart.

“It’s a family tradition, but the Dodgers have a lot of work to do,” he said.

A local favorite mom-and-pop bookshop in Eagle Rock is facing displacement due to a steep rent hike. The owners say theirs is just one of several small businesses along Eagle Rock Boulevard struggling to keep up with lease increases.

Over the past 19 years, many in the neighborhood have come to love READ Books for its eclectic collection of used titles and shop dog Florence.

Co-owner Jeremy Kaplan said it’s been a delight to grow with the community over the years.

“Like seeing kids come back in, who were in grade school and now they’re in college,” Kaplan said.

But the building where Kaplan and wife Debbie rent was recently sold, and the rent increased by more than 130% to $2,805 a month, Kaplan said. He told LAist it was an increase his small business simply could not absorb.

Kaplan said he originally was given 30 days notice of the rent increase. After some research, assistance from Councilmember Ysabel Jurado’s office and some pro-bono legal help, Kaplan said he pushed back and got the 90-day notice he’s afforded by state law.

California Senate Bill 1103 requires landlords to give businesses with five or less employees 90 days’ notice for rent increases exceeding 10%, among other protections.

Systems Real Estate, the property management company, did not immediately respond to LAist’s request for comment.

What can small businesses do? 

Nadia Segura, directing attorney of the Small Business Program at pro bono legal aid non-profit Bet Tzedek said California law does not currently allow for rent control for commercial tenancies.

Outside of the protections under SB 1103, Segura said small businesses like READ Books don’t have much other recourse. And even then, commercial landlords are not required to inform their tenants of their protections under the law.

“There’s still a lot of people that don’t know about SB 1103. And then it’s very sad that they tell them they have these rent increases and within a month they have to leave,” Segura said.

She said her group is seeing steep rent hikes like this for commercial tenants across the city.

“We are seeing this even more with the World Cup coming up, the Olympics coming up. And I will say it was very sad to see that also after the wildfires,” Segura said.

Part of Bet Tzedek’s ongoing work is to advocate for small businesses, working with landlords who are increasing rents to see if they are willing to give business owners longer leases that lock in rents.

What’s next 

After READ Books posted about their situation on social media, commenters chimed in to express their outrage and love for the little shop.

While he looks for a new spot, Kaplan says he’s forming a coalition of local businesses and activist groups to see what can be done to help other small businesses facing similar displacement. He wants to address the displacement issue for businesses like his, which have made Eagle Rock the distinctive neighborhood that it is today.

Owl Talk, a longtime Eagle Rock staple selling clothing and accessories in a unit in the same building as READ Books, is facing a “more than double” rent increase, according to a post on their Instagram account.

Kaplan said he’s been in touch with the office of state Assemblywoman Jessica Caloza and wants to explore the possibility of introducing legislation to set up protections for small businesses like his, including rent-control measures or a vacancy tax for landlords. Kaplan said he also reached out to the office of state Sen. Maria Durazo.

By his count, Kaplan said there are about a dozen businesses within surrounding blocks that are at risk of closing their doors or have shuttered due to rent increases or other struggles.

When READ Books was founded during the Great Recession, Kaplan said he knew it was a longshot to open a bookstore at the same time so many were struggling to stay in business.

“It was kind of interesting to be doing something that neighborhoods needed. That was important to me growing up, that was important to my children, that was important to my wife growing up,” Kaplan said.

“And then somebody comes in and says, ‘We’re gonna over double your rent.”

Topline:

Frozen budget: Most of the city’s Bureau of Street Lighting budget comes from an assessment that people who own property illuminated by lights pay on their county property tax bill. The amount people pay depends on the kind of property they own and how much they benefit from lighting. A typical single-family home currently pays $53 annually, and in total, the assessments bring in about $45 million annually for the city to repair and maintain streetlights. Changing the amount the Bureau of Street Lighting gets from the assessment requires a vote among property owners who benefit from the lights.

Ballots: L.A. City Council’s vote gives city staff the green light to prepare and send out those ballots. Miguel Sangalang, who oversees the bureau, said at a committee meeting earlier this month that he expects to send out ballots by April 17. Notices about the ballots will be sent out prior to the ballots themselves.

Near unanimous vote: L.A. City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez was the only “No” vote Tuesday, saying she wanted to see a more current strategic plan for the bureau. Sangalang said the bureau developed a plan in 2022 that lays out how money will be spent. Councilmember Imelda Padilla was absent for the vote.

Vote count: Votes will be weighted according to the assessment amount. Basically, the more you’re asked to pay yearly to maintain streetlights, the more your vote will count. Ballots received before June 2 will be tabulated by the L.A. City Clerk.

How much more money: According to a report, the amount needed in assessments from property owners to meet the repair and maintenance needs of the city’s streetlighting in the next fiscal year is nearly $112 million.

Use of the money: Sangalang said at a March 11 committee meeting that the extra funds would be used to double the number of staff to handle repairs and procure solar streetlights, which don’t face the threat of copper wire theft. That would all potentially reduce the time it takes to repair simple fixes down to a week. Currently, city residents wait for months to see broken streetlights repaired. The assessment would come with a three-year auditing mechanism.